A Brush with Fashion Week

Despite seemingly ongoing international chaos, this week was full of good things on a personal level. One of which was an evening where I was invited by a super stylish acquaintance of mine, Jessica, to visit a special event affiliated with Berlin's Fashion Week. It was hosted by Sleek Magazine, where she is the new Fashion and Beauty Director. It was held in the the fabulous art library on the 15th floor of Berlin's Waldorf Astoria Hotel.  If the names sounds new to you, Sleek is a modern and insightful quarterly publication about art and fashion. It's well worth a visit to their online portal which explores the many-faceted diamond that is urban culture: http://www.sleek-mag.com/

Here among a wealth of art and culture books (and delightfully presented snacks), was a talented UK nail artist based in Berlin, whom I purposefully did NOT ask about Brexit :(. She shares a studio in the multicultural Kreuzberg neighborhood of Berlin, near where I work. We talked about art and inspiration while I checked out the showcase of top-notch nail polishes by my favorite Berlin nail polish company uniquely named Uslu Airlines:

http://usluairlines.com/

I was treated to a long-overdue and much-appreciated manicure. Uslu polishes are abbreviated as in airport codes, with three capital letters. They have gorgeous classic colors and some quirky, cool features like crackled appearance or sparkle. They hold up very well on the nails, even if you are rough on your hands like I am. I learned about this brand because they were sold at the former flag ship store of my favorite Berlin publishers, Gestalten. http://shop.gestalten.com/ Yet again, the wonderful intersection of art, fashion, and books!

As I waited for my nails to dry, I looked out the high-rise window down to Bikini Berlin, a new hip mall in the Charlottenburg neighborhood of West Berlin, juxtaposed with the historic remains of the Protestant Kaiser-Wilhelm Memorial Church, or Kaiser-Wilhem Gedächtnis Kirchengemeinde. This church was built in 1891, partly destroyed in 1943, with more destruction following in 1945. More info here: http://www.gedaechtniskirche-berlin.de/facts-about-church It is always a layered experience here in Berlin.

 

I had to run to attend our Kita's Elternabend, or parent-teacher meeting, so not a lot more time to spare. However, my lucky streak continued. I received samples of delightful products by Aesop and Berlin-based Urban Scents: http://urbanscents.de/about-us/

Here's a detail of the nails later. A warm blush color with coral accents of little lines and dots on the ring fingers. In this crazy world, a bit of self-care. Happy almost 4th of July from Berlin.